Feb. 9, 2015—After two-and-a-half years of legal jousting, involving over 140 separate claims seeking damages in excess of $300,000, Bob Juniper of Three-C Body Shops and State Farm Insurance have reached a settlement, according to an announcement from Auto Damage Experts Inc.
Juniper, second generation owner and CEO of Three-C Body Shops Inc., filed a lawsuit against State Farm on behalf of 146 of his customers. The issue stemmed from Three-C’s billings associated with the handling of total loss vehicles of which the insurer declined to provide ample compensation to their customers. The issues included, but were not restricted to processes such as hazardous waste, labor related to dismantling, mechanical, diagnostic time, access, rough pulls, accessing codes, relocation of disabled vehicle, fluid/debris clean-up, collision wrap, clean-up of broken glass, administrative time performing research for factory repair methods and numerous other processes incurred.
“We are pleased to have settled this group of cases and I presume State Farm is as well,” Juniper said in a release. “It is never a good situation for the customer when an insurer and repairer clash over such issues, especially when litigation results. I’m confident the settlement will enable our two companies to better serve the needs of our customers and our respective businesses regardless if a vehicle is repairable or should be deemed to be a total loss.”
